Ditto
by peace4people
Summary: Cas is confused and Dean provides a little insight.


_A/N: I got a prompt on tumblr for "destiel fanfiction," so I thought I would post this here too._

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"I don't understand." If Dean had a dollar for every time Cas had spoken those three words, they'd be staying at the Marriott instead of this dank motel. Over the last five years, the two had exhausted the topics of colloquialisms and had gone through endless pop culture references, but there was always something Cas "didn't understand."

"You're kidding me, right?" Dean was sitting at the tiny table, head resting in hands, hundreds of papers spread out in front of him. Sammy was helping another hunter two states over, and Dean had spent the last two days just trying to identify the monster in this town. In desperate need of concentration, he had left the angel watching a TV movie marathon for the last seven hours.

"Dean, why would I be _kidding_ you?" Cas asked from the edge of the bed. As he watched his angel starring over at him, he couldn't help but smile. Whenever Dean used slang, Cas would always repeat it back and stress that word. _We need to _gank_ the spirit. No, _dude_ that is not _awesome_. Yes, we will _bang_ tonight. Why would I be _kidding_ you? _Sometimes Dean thought about making up words, just to see if Cas would ever notice. "Would you stop belittling me and explain what's going on?"

"What _exactly_ is it that you don't understand?" Dean got up from his chair and gently sat down next to his boyfriend on the bed. He rested his hands on his knees; he hadn't realized just how tired he was until after he had stood up. He could now feel the beginnings of a dull headache forming. He furrowed his brow trying to will it away – this was the last thing he needed right now.

"You're annoyed." And the look that follows that statement hurts Dean more than anything else that has physically scarred him. The expression that not only shouts sadness but also fear; fear that he's said something stupid or that he's somehow disappointing Dean.

"Cas, I'm not annoyed." Dean brings his hands up and quickly rubs at the growing scruff on his face, "What is it that you don't understand?"

"Nevermind. It's nothing of import." Dean can feel his heart racing, because those are the words he fell in love with. Not those exact ones, but the adorable way Castiel manipulated language in general, at this point he had practically created his own dialect.

"Come on, Cas. Don't be a bitch, what is it?" Then he remembers how even to him that word now sounds so harsh. A few years ago, he had said things like that to Cas in order to push him away. He had wanted to set up a barrier – it made it easier for him to ignore that aching feeling at the pit of his stomach. But now, he didn't have to hide anymore – without thinking he reaches out and places his hand on top of Casitel's, as if that gesture will excuse him for the relapse in language and it seems to work because the angel adjusts his fingers so they're interlocking with Dean's.

"Ghosts are bad, right?" Cas asks with his head cocked to the side.

"Well, yeah, Cas. If they weren't Sammy and I wouldn't be BFFs with the Morton salt girl." He chuckles at his own joke but quickly changes his expression when the angel doesn't react, he clears his throat slightly embarrassed "—Anyways. Yeah, all spirits turn bad, why are you asking?"

"Well I think the ghost in this movie is good." Dean looks up trying to figure out what's been playing on the TV, but it's currently a commercial break which provides him with no clues.

"What are we watching here, _Casper_?"

"I don't understand adding the suffix –per to my name. Cas is already an abbreviated version of Castiel, and I like when you call me that. It seems unnecessary to change my name again."

"Casper? No Casper is uhm...he's from a children's movie. He's this friendly little ghost kid that...never mind. Just tell me what the movie is."

"_Ghost_."

"Yeah, the movie with the ghost you're confused about. What's it called?"

"No, Dean. I believe that's the name of it – _Ghost_." but Dean doesn't hear a words he says because his mind has started to drift off, he's starring down at their interlocked fingers and he can't stop thinking about how perfectly their hands fit together; it's as if they were made for this purpose and this purpose only. He doesn't even realize Castiel has said anything until he looks up and is greeted with a blank stare. "Uh...what was that?"  
"I think the movie is named _Ghost_."

"Dude, you mean the chick flick with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and...uh, Whoopi Goldberg?"

Cas frowns, "I'm not sure...what is a Whoopi Goldberg?"

"Is there a psychic in the movie and some crazy make out scene with pottery involved?"

Cas eyes light up, "Yes, so you know this movie well?"

"This is a classic, Cas. Everyone has seen _Ghost_. Even if you never want to see _Ghost_, you'll eventually end up seeing _Ghost_."  
"And the ghost is good?"

"For the purpose of this movie, just pretend that ghosts can be good." Although, now that Dean was thinking about it, Swayze's character would have definitely turned into a vengeful spirit if he had hung around on Earth for longer – but tonight was not the night to philosophically discuss movies from the 1990s.

"But..."

"Suspend your disbelief and just pretend." Cas nods in acceptance but Dean can still see hesitation in his eyes, "Is there something else?"

"Ditto."

"What?"

"I don't get it..._ditto_. Whenever the sad short haired girl says that she loves him, he says ditto and she does not appear to be very happy about that."

"Because he doesn't actually say it back. It's like Han Solo in Star Wars. He says 'I know' instead of 'I love you too.'"

"But why is she upset – that's what I don't understand, Dean." He almost laughs at how much concentration is stressed on Cas' face. As if this one answer could solve every problem in the universe if he could only figure it out.

"The problem is that he only ever says 'ditto,' and sometimes you need to hear the words 'I love you' to know it's real."

"But they're just words, it doesn't matter what you say. It's what you feel. You don't need to say love to mean love. We don't always proclaim it, but you should know I mean it in every word I say to you."

"That's uhm...well..." he clears his throat quickly because he is _so_ _not_ going to get chocked up right now, "that's really nice Cas."

He smiles, obviously proud to hear Dean's praise. He leans forward, he can feel Dean's breath on his own lips, but when he sees the exhaustion in the young hunter's eyes he pulls back slowly, "Your body needs rest."

Dean groans, he wants to argue but the headache is getting worse and he knows the angel is right. In fact, he's so right, that Dean doesn't even bother changing clothes; he just leans back in the bed and allows Cas to pull him towards the warmth of his body.

"Ditto."

"I know."

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_A/N: I'm dying to know what you guys think of this. This is my first Destiel story and I desperately want some feedback._


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